Pashu Sakhis, a team of woman community(SHGs) animal health workers is at the forefront in animal care in rural areas of Jharkhand. The team serves animals by vaccinating them, de-worming and castrating them for their better health. Pashu Sakhis are doing a crucial job in the Maoist dominated areas of Jharkhand where poultry and cattle rearing are the major sources of income. Jharkhand became the first state in India to get over 1000 Pashu Sakhis certified by the Agriculture Skill Council of India. (ASCI).
Earlier, owing to their unawareness about diseases among goats and their treatment, the farmers used to sell the goats at young age of 3-4 months, being afraid that they may not be able to take care of the animals’ health. But after help from Pashu Sakhis in castration, timely vaccination and deworming of goats along with information on healthy feeds at doorstep, the efforts have resulted in good health and growth of the livestocks. Now people are aware and also happy that they will not have to bear loss and will be able to sell the animals when they fully grow up and consequently access maximum profit. The income of farmers has nearly doubled.
The Johar Pashu Sakhi project is being funded by The World Bank since 2018 and it is being implemented by the Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS), a unit of the state rural development department. Jharkhand has the second-highest poverty rate in the country with 37% of population below the poverty line. In such a scenario, Pashu Sakhis play an important role in diversifying incomes.